Hunter and Mel Owen arrive back in Walford next week, after disappearing from the face of the earth since Ray’s death, leaving fans puzzled about where they could have gone.
But while they might be back in Albert Square, it seems things will never be the same again for the mother/son duo after Hunter shot dead Ray Kelly after his New Year wedding to Mel.
Hunter is clearly struggling to cope with the guilt of what he has done, and while he’s putting on a brave face for his mum, his actions next week show that he is far from okay.
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As the pair get back to their house, Hunter is relieved to find the gun that he used to kill Ray is still there.
As Mel tries to get rid of all the evidence of Ray at their house, Hunter goes out, only to find himself in trouble almost immediately.
After seeing Keanu has thrown Louise a party to congratulate her on passing her driving theory test, Hunter can’t help but make nasty digs, antagonising Keanu to the point where he ends up seeing red and punching Hunter in the face.
Bex is forced to step in and break up the pair, and Mel is later worried about her son when Bex lets slip what happened with Keanu.
Confronting Hunter, Mel encourages him to open up about what is going on in his head, but while he says all the right things to appease her, he’s clearly only doing it for her benefit and sneaks off once again.
Later Jack sees Hunter at the E20 causing trouble as he chats up a group of girls, leaving him worried.
Jack steps in and takes Hunter home, but Mel isn’t happy once again that Hunter has been making a show of himself when he’s meant to be lying low.
But when Mel tries to talk to her son once again, he puts on crocodile tears and Mel feels awful, comforting him in what she thinks is his hour of need.
But as the pair bond, Mel is shocked when Maddie and Nicola knock on the door, demanding to know where Ray is.
Despite fobbing them off, pretending that she doesn’t know where Ray is, Mel can’t help but worry that they aren’t buying her lies.
And she is right to be worried when the next day Hunter sees the pair of women watching him, clearly suspicious.
But while Mel is worrying that Maddie and Nicola might work out what has really happened to Ray, Jack is more concerned about Hunter and tells Mel that his bizarre behaviour isn’t normal. If only he knew…
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Knowing that her son isn’t right, Mel looks at the CCTV footage of him in the nightclub and realises she needs some help. After turning to Phil for help, she then asks Ian for guidance.
But of course any sort of time spent with Mel leads to Ian thinking it is a date – and things get even more awkward for the desperate mum when she asks about Bobby without revealing she is worried about Hunter and Ian takes offence!
After Mel goes to apologise later on, Ian then opens up about Bobby, leaving Mel with food for thought.
Fixating on something that Ian said about Bobby, Mel makes a huge decision that will change her and Hunter’s lives forever… but what does she have planed?
EastEnders airs Monday and Friday at 8pm and Tuesday and Thursday at 7.30pm on BBC One.
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